Sony Corporation

Mitsumasa Saitoh

Shigeyuki Sano

Toshio Amano

Susumu Tagawa

Katsumi Kuwabara

Osamu Oda

Hisafumi Yamada

Shigeru Ohmuro

Seiichi Ogawa

Hideki Fukasawa

Kenichiro Kumamoto

Takao Itabashi

Naoyuki Sumi

Miyuki Yamane

Broadcast signal channel selecting apparatus which receives and is tunable to different broadcast signals, assigns a priority to each as a function of the amount of time to which that broadcast signal had been previously tuned, selects a broadcast signal according to its priority, and tunes to the selected broadcast signal.

Broadcast signal channel selecting apparatus

A channel selecting system for use in a television receiver arranged for receiving a television signal having digital data including digital video data and digital audio data. The broadcasting carrier of the received television signal is detected while changing a receive frequency. A check is made whether the digital data are locked in the vicinity of the receive frequency after the broadcasting carrier is detected.

Channel selection in a digital television receiver

Broadcast signal receiver with means for prioritizing broadcast signals

An image display apparatus has a manually operable inputting device such as a remote controller. A predetermined function, for example, as a picture-in-picture is allocated to a predetermined area of a screen of a CRT display. When a cursor is located in the predetermined area by a mouse remote controller and a setting key of the mouse remote controller is clicked, a CPU executes the function allocated to the predetermined area.

Image display apparatus

A television receiver can output advice information to the viewer when the viewer risks missing a favorite broadcasting program. This television receiver includes in its control unit a timer for obtaining day and time data, a calculating circuit for compiling broadcasting station number currently being viewed by using the time information as parameters, and a weekly tuning information storage unit for storing therein data representing a personal weekly viewing trend on the basis of the compiled result, in which, when it is determined that present tuning data read out from the weekly tuning information storage unit and the present tuning broadcasting station are not coincident with each other, advice information is supplied to the viewer in the form of displayed message or sound message before or after that time.

Audio video apparatus with intelligence for learning a history of user

A picture selector includes a controller such as a mouse controller for controlling the movement of a cursor on a display screen of a display device capable of performing multi-picture display. The cursor on the display screen is moved onto a desired one of plural displayed picture frames by manipulation of the mouse controller, and then the mouse controller is clicked to display the desired picture frame as a main picture frame.

Movable cursor for selecting and exchanging main picture and sub picture

A video signal output circuit used in a TV set to sample the frequency level of an input video signal so that monitored pictures are automatically optimized in quality. A luminance signal is separated from the input video signal by a Y/C separator. A plurality of band-pass filters whose passing frequencies are f.sub.1, f.sub.2, f.sub.3, . . . , f.sub.n detect the frequency spectrum of the luminance signal through sampling. The detected values are sent to a controller attached to an equalizer. The equalizer is controlled so that monitored pictures based on the output video signal are optimized in quality.

Video signal output circuit with adaptive equalizer

A TV receiver has a tuner and a controller for controlling a tuning operation of the tuner. The controller includes a calculation unit for effecting a calculation of preferred stations using as parameters tuned channels and the times for which the channels are selected. A tuning frequency arrangement storing unit determines the channels that are frequently watched by a user on the basis of the calculation and stores indications of the channels. The channel indications thus stored are read out in ranked order to perform a tuning operation in response to successive actuation of a preferred-station key.

Television receiver that automatically keeps track of favorite channels

Items related to the quality of an on-screen image such as brightness, sharpness, chroma, etc. and items related to the audio quality such as bass, treble, balance, etc. in a CRT display, such as a television receiver, are subject to adjustment by a user. These items are originally classified into those in a first class and those in a second class in accordance with the nature of a respective item, that is, whether a user must know the current analog value of the item before he or she adjusts it. When an instruction is input through user's manipulation to adjust the analog value of an item to be controlled, the system determines whether the item belongs to the first class or the second class. If it belongs to the first class, the system first confirms that the item and its actual analog value are displayed on a screen, then permits adjustment of the analog value in response to the instruction, and then displays a new analog value. If it belongs to the second class, the system permits immediate adjustment of its analog value and displays a new analog value.

Method of controlling first items that require prior CRT display and

A remote commander wherein a user can confirm operation of an operation key after such operation has a touch panel operating section including a display device for displaying an image of a plurality of operation keys thereon and an operation detecting device for detecting, when one of the operation keys displayed on the display device is depressed, the thus depressed operation key. Upon such detection of the depressed operation key, the display device is controlled to display part or all of a display portion of the depressed operation key in a flickering condition for a predetermined period of time after completion of such depression of the operation key. An infrared ray command signal corresponding to such depressed operation key is sent out to a remote object appliance to operate the object appliance.

Remote commander

In an apparatus for converting received video signals of a first format, which has a first number of horizontal lines in a field or frame and a picture display of a first aspect ratio, to video signals of a second format, which has a second number of horizontal lines in a field or frame and a picture display of a second aspect ratio; an analog-to-digital converter converts the received video signals of the first format to digital video signals, a memory has addresses at which there are written at least a field of the digital video signals of the first format, whereupon, a reading circuit reads from the memory addresses less samples of the digital video signals than were written in the memory and the digital video signals thus read from the memory are converted back to analog form, and a controller is provided for variably determining a start address of the addresses in the memory from which video signal data are read. In the case where the first aspect ratio is larger than the second aspect ratio, the selection of the start address determines a portion or portions of the picture display of the first aspect ratio to be omitted at least at one side of the picture display of the second aspect ratio.

Apparatus for defining an effective picture area of a high definition

A security monitor system is designed to transmit video signals from a plurality of video information sources via a common transmission line. Video information from respective video information sources is scanned at given timings to check the monitoring areas in a given order. An automatic recognition may be facilitated in the security monitor system for detecting substantial and noticable movement within a picture derived from the video information from each of the video signal sources. Therefore, the security monitor system is inexpensive and satisfactory for monitoring a plurality of monitoring areas and is satisfactory for recording video information of a variety of monitoring areas, when movement in the picture of one of the monitoring areas is detected, by means of a video tape recorder or other appropriate recording means.

Security monitor system

A video monitoring system applicable to a security system is provided with a television camera, one or more television monitors, one or more AC adaptors equal in number to the television monitors, and one or more adaptors equal in number to the television monitors. Each adaptor connects the television camera to the associated television monitor via a prior stage component of the monitoring system and to a next stage component. At least one of the adaptors has functions for transmitting DC power supply of the associated AC adaptor to the associated television monitor, for transmitting DC power supply to the prior stage component via the associated television monitor, for transmitting and amplifying an audio signal of the television camera to the associated television monitor and to the next stage component, for transmitting and amplifying a video signal of the television camera to the next stage component upon receipt of DC power supply from the next stage component, and for transmitting the video signal from the prior stage component to the associated television monitor.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Mitsumasa Saitoh